Return to a Rum retreat

I took no photographs at all on our crossing of the Sound of Canna from the west end of Sanday, around the south of Sandy and across the open water to the north tip of Rum.  Douglas took one image just as we left Sanday and it shows the swells beginning to build up - and this was some 3.5km from the main tidal race.

As soon as we left the shelter of the bay we'd camped in we were exposed to an Atlantic swell and a good deal of clapotis generated by the swell crashing onto the south coast of Sanday.  We moved out into more open water and kept close together, if we got separated it would have been easy for us to lose sight of each other.

Initially the wind blown chop was the dominant sea condition, but fairly soon we moved into the main tidal race which was pushing  eastward.  Though in its final third this was still quite strong, and was maginfying the big swells coming in from the open ocean.  these swells were being further compressed as they were funnelled into the Sound and we were very aware of their increasing size.

Several times we backed off the crests of these swells as they threatened to become rollers - but they rarely actually broke.  After about an hour of these conditions, which could fairly described as "having our full attention" we passed out of the narrower part of the Sound of Canna and the swell and tidal movement gradually subsided, allowing us to use the now much more manageable swells to push us towards the tip of Rum.

Exposure to the weather is a feature of the Small Isles, any trip here is at the mercy of the conditions.  We'd hoped to have paddled right around Canna and to have journeyed down the west coast of Rum; neither of those would have been prudent (or enjoyable) in the heavy swell and gusty wind.  Here, the flexibility of our plans served us well.


Turning the cornerat the north tip of Rum was to enter another world......

Entirely sheltered from both wind and swell, the east coast of Rum was glassy calm.  The mist and low cloud hid the view of Skye completely.

We landed back at the beautiful bay of Samhan Insir for first luncheon and a small measure of Golden Steadying Liquid.  Although today wasn't a sunny day like the previous day when the breathtaking colours of this beach were fairly zinging.....

There was still plenty to admire....

In the intricate patterns of water on the sand.

Suitably fed and watered, we mad our way down the coast to Loch Scresort.  Here too it was glassy calm; we could clearly hear voices over a couple of kilometres of water.  We shuddered to think what the midges would have been like on a still, overcast evening like this had it been summer!

Our accommodation for the night would be somewhat different from the tents of the previous night!

A short walk on Canna

We woke to a grey and blustery morning, grateful that we didn't have to attempt a launch off the boulder beach at Guirdil, which would be exposed to the southwesterly swell. 

Our original plan had been to have paddled from Guirdil, circumnavigated Canna and camped in this spot on the second night.  The plan had already altered to camping here the first night, and it was clear that we'd have to alter our plans further. 

A glance towards Rum showed low cloud moving quickly, a glance from the tent door showed large breakers beyoond the bay we were camped in.  Paddling around Canna was quickly discounted, as was bringing forward the intention to paddle the west coast of Rum by a day.  Both these are long paddles with no landing places on a shore fully exposed to the Atlantic swell.

Our flexible approach to planning was put into place and we decided to paddle back to the sheltered east coast of Rum, and to return to Kinloch and spend the night in the hostel there.

This wasn't altogether a simple plan - there were a couple of complications.  Firstly, there was a big spring tide running and if we launched straight away we'd be paddling against a tidal stream of up to four knots, with wind against tide to further enliven conditions.  We decided to wait until an hour and a half before slack water before setting off, which would mean less tidal movement and wind effect.  This led to a further slight complication - the channel we'd paddled in through would have long dried out, so we'd need to go around the west and south coasts of Sanday to reach  the open water of the Sound of Canna.

We felt that this would work, and if conditions were too bad, we would have the option to return to Canna via either end of Sanday, giving a "bail out" option or two.  An advantage to the revised plan ws that we had plenty of time to explore a bit of Canna on foot.

We set out across the bridge linking Sanday with Canna, and found these pieces of whale vertebra near to the bridge.  The south coast of Canna beyond was dashed with surf - we were now sure we we were making a good decision!

We passed the single storey vehicle park.......

To reach the National Trust for Scotland building, housed in a farm.  The island has been held by the Trust since it was gifted in 1981 by the then owners, John and Fay Lorne Campell.  The terms of the gift ensure that a viable community should remain on the island and that it shouldn't just become an empty, if beautiful place.  The poulation varies, but is generally between 12 and 20 people.

A small museum is housed in the former dairy building at the farm and has interesting displays about life on Canna in times past

Featuring implements and tools used in fishing....

And also farming; Canna has rich soil and good grazing; butter and milk were prime produce.  There are still cattle grazing on both Canna and Sanday, we saw Galloway Belties, Highland cattle and a fine Aberdeen Angus bull on our short walk.

If visiting by kayak, it's useful to know that there is also a toilet and a shower (£2 coin required for the shower) in an outbuilding of the farm, and a tap for water.

Canna beat an evening like this....

During the crossing from the west coast of Rum we used the lighthouse on the eastern tip of Sanday as our target.  Constructed in 1907, the light flashes white once every six seconds.  We had to aim off a considerable way to the left in order to arrive underneath the light as the tidal stream would push us to the right - at a rate of over 4 knots near to Sanday itself.

It was nearly sunset when we turned into Canna Harbour, and what a glorious evening it was!  We paddled past the St Edwards Centre on Sanday, a deconsecrated Catholic church converted to a study centre.....

And past the former schoolhouse, both silhouetted in a golden sunset glow.

As we moved along Canna harbour the view back across Sanday past the St Edwards centre to the hills of Rum was pin-sharp in the cool evening air.

 We slowed right down to savour the atmosphere and the quality of light, agreeing that "you just Canna beat an evening like this!".

At this state of the tide we'd easily be able to paddle under the bridge which connects Sanday to Canna in order to reach our intended camp site.  For now, this was simply too good an evening to rush - this couple of kilometres into Canna harbour stands out as one of the real highlights of our trip.

The sun had set by the time we landed on a small beach and put up our tents.  As the glow faded the first stars emerged and we were treated to a great display of the night sky, followed later by an enormous full moon rising over Rum.

We cooked by the light of our head-torches and sat chatting until the temperature dropped away.  It was a chilly night, and sometime in the small hours the wind rose.  As I turned over in my sleeping bag, I reflected that had we managed to land at Guirdil on Rum the previous evening we would have had great difficulty in getting off again in the rising weather.